There was long-awaited word yesterday that Canada’s airstrikes against ISIS will end no later than February 22, as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced the highly anticipated details of his government’s new approach to Canada’s military and aid mission in Iraq and Syria. The number of military personnel will increase from 650 to 830 and the size of Canada’s training contingent will triple. Given the expanded mission, Gen. Jonathan Vance says military trainers will likely face “engagements” with enemy Islamic militants in Iraq, but that doesn’t mean they’re in a combat mission. CP’s Mike Blanchfield has more.

So what’s driving the Liberals’ mission shift? CP’s Jennifer Ditchburn asks: “Why is a different choice even necessary? What is the real reason they can’t keep six CF-18 fighter jets in the mix, in addition to doing the rest of the things they want to do?”

Shifting gears entirely: You needn’t talk money anymore. It turns out when Canadians receive their census questionnaires this May, they’ll no longer be asked to report their income and benefits — something Statistics Canada says produced subpar data. As our BJ Siekierski reports, in a move that’s looking to reduce the burden on Canadians and improve data quality, Statistics Canada is going to get that information from the Canada Revenue Agency.

Police officers and chiefs from across the country say the plan to legalize pot in Canada is seeing things go to pot. As the Globe’s Daniel Leblanc notes, the Liberal promise where the drug is concerned has caused confusion. “Illegal pot dispensaries are opening up from coast to coast at the same time as some users feel they should no longer be subject to the Criminal Code, prompting law-enforcement officials to urge the Trudeau government to remind Canadians that marijuana remains an illegal drug.”

Other plans coming down the proverbial pipe include ‘radical changes’ to the Citizenship Act, says Immigration Minister John McCallum. His fellow Liberal MPs want to see the government do away with the language requirement for new immigrants to apply for citizenship in Canada.

Heritage Minister Melanie Joly participates in the official ground breaking of the new National Arts Centre.

Environment Minister Catherine McKenna speaks with students at the Munk School of Global Affairs on her experiences negotiating the Paris Agreement and the path forward for a cleaner, more prosperous Canada.

Federal Indigenous Affairs Minister Carolyn Bennett and Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould hold media availability in Saskatoon to discuss a meeting with family members of missing and murdered indigenous women.

A new report from the United Nations says mass deaths in Syrian jails amount to crimes of ‘extermination.’ “The U.N. commission of inquiry called on the Security Council to impose ‘targeted sanctions’ on high-ranking Syrian civilian and military officials responsible for or complicit in deaths, torture and disappearances in custody, but stopped short of naming the suspects.”

The Trudeau government finally got around today to announcing its all-new anti-ISIS strategy for Syria and Iraq. And like most counterterrorism strategies, this one involves a fair degree of wishful thinking.

Jeff Sallot says that while the new mission — with its renewed emphasis on aid and ground troop training — might turn out to be an easier sell domestically by the time the next federal election rolls around, it also carries a heavy risk involving our local allies, the Kurds.

Tasha Kheiriddin points out the irony in the Trudeau government’s plan to introduce ‘radical’ change to the Conservatives’ revamped immigration system: By doing so, they’d be undermining a key part of Pierre Trudeau’s political legacy and making it harder for immigrants to adapt to their new home.